Life 1

So apparently time is a figure that only exists on our own subconscious. So basically, if you think time moves slow, it does and vice versa. But we can vividly remember something that happened like 5 years a go and think, "it was only yesterday..", and we do feel like it was.

Going back to when I was 6. I grew up in a predominantly agricultural section of South Korea. My "Village" consisted of old folks who farmed and grew crops for income. I remember vividly of how I used to play in the mountains, get stuck in the mud, the loud cries of cicadas during the summer, the croaks of the frogs at night, and even the swarms of dragonflies that would rush out at summer. But I'm no longer 6, I'm 16.

16

Ten years have past already.

Ten years ago my parents were in their mid 30s, still quite young. Now my dads approaching his 50s, and my mom is dead.

Ten years ago I dad told us that we were going to move to America. I was scared, excited, and a bunch of other emotions. I even remember talking with my sister about America. How we'd be able to see the Statue of Liberty, the Niagara Falls, and all those blue eyed, blond kids we would see on T.V. Hello 10 years, and we've barely glanced at the Statue of Liberty, and never even had a peek at the Falls.

Lets fast forward a year.

My family had settled down in Indianapolis, Indiana and was planning to move again. My dad was an assistant pastor of a baptist korean church. This basically meant he took care of the church and everything that goes on, and the main pastor did his weekly "sermon" and got paid triple more than my dad.I remember going to that pastor's house when he first came from Korea. It was my first time seeing a fridge that have a top and bottom, but a left and right side. The left side even had a water and ice dispenser. It felt all too magical to me. Their house, their car, and even their food; it all seems so luxurious.

I used to have this friend Keven, I remember going to his house once. His closet was full of toys, not crap toys, but "good" toys. I asked my mom why we couldn't have a closet full of toys. I didn't think it was fair for someone to have that many toys, yet others had little to none.

Hey, I was young, naive, self absorbed; I didn't bother to pay attention to financial burdens and other "important" things. I didn't have a concept of money and why that pastor's family could have all these nice things, yet we lived in crap. The only thing that went on in my mind was equality, how we should all be "fair". Well I quickly learned life isn't fair, money hold value, money dictates how people can live, and money dictates worldly happiness.

Lets move onto "American" school. I remember my first day, it was horrible. I had to go to the restroom but I didn't know the word in engrish. I nearly pee'd my pants until I blurted out, "restroom!", in korean. The teacher moved me over to the restroom and it was all good. The other thing I noticed was how colorful the rooms were. My kindergarten wasn't even this colorful. I noticed diversity and how all white people weren't blond with colorful eyes. I was the only foreign kid they've met and they were aliens to me, we both thought each others were "cool".

I began developing prejudice and stereotypes. There was a immensely obese girl in my class. I thought that was gross, how could someone get that fat? There was this black kid, I think his name was Steven or something. I hated his guts, he would make fun of how I couldn't speak english and how I looked. Aside from school, there were a lot of black people in my neighborhood. One kid called me a "punk", and I took it as a full blown insult. Another kid would follow me while I was riding my bike and I would always try to runaway. One time I even crashed into a car because I was trying to get away. The Korean folks that we knew talked about how their store got robbed by black people and how they're robbing all the stores.

I quickly learned to associate black with bad.

Lets fast forward 2 more years.

In 4 years time, I have developed monetary sense, racism, and The the ability to speak my 2nd, and soon to be dominate, language.